Just like people being more likely to run a marathon before hitting a new decade, the start of the year is the time for resetting bad screen habits
Many of us will still be in the honeymoon stage of our New Year's resolutions; determined to transform our lives for the better. Whether it's Dry January, or a new workout plan, motivation to live a happier and healthier life is hopefully still high. And while your primary focus is self-improvement, the start of a new year presents the perfect opportunity to evaluate the primary relationship in your life: the one with those many shiny screens.
Maybe you compulsively check your phone throughout the day, or feel overwhelmed by the work emails that flood in each morning. If so, introducing online boundaries is a way to care for our minds. Whether it's a digital detox i.e. not checking social media during work hours or even for the whole month, or spring cleaning your inbox to reach that glorious “0” milestone, a tech reset for 2023 is worth consideration.
We asked Adam Atler, author of Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, for his tips on how and why we should look to work on our relationship to tech this time of year.
“The experiences we have on our phones are very compelling—they capture our attention and prevent us from being able to engage with the rest of the world,” Atler tells GQ. Because of this, we're less likely to fully observe the world around us, engage in meaningful conversation or fully focus on work while staring at our phones.
“We need boundaries because phones crowd out so many important life experiences. If we allow them to encroach, they'll compromise our social, financial, and psychological well-being,” he adds.
While we can implement change at any time, the New Year, the boundary between two eras, and a fresh start for many, is an optimal time to reconsider your relationship to being online. In research with another UCLA academic, Atler found that people are more likely to run their first marathon when they're about to turn 30, 40 or 50 years old. “You can run marathons at any age of course, but something about a new decade, like a new year, prompts people to audit their habits and life decisions more carefully,” he explains.
Create space from technology
Atler's number one tip is to create space from technology. “Most of us can reach our phones 24 hours a day. It's on our nightstand and in our pocket and in the car with us, so it's natural that we'll reach for it in moments of boredom or anxiety.”
If you put your phone in another room or leave it at home during a walk you'll have no choice but to not reach for it. “Instead of leaving it on your desk or in your pocket, choose a few hours of the day when you'll put it in a drawer in another room,” Atler says.
He also advises to keep phones out of your bedroom. “If you need an alarm, buy a small, cheap alarm clock, or use a watch. Space is your friend when it comes to resisting temptation.”
Turn off push notifications
A 2018 Ofcom report found that people check their phones every 12 minutes. That's 60 phone checks in a 12 hour day. Yes, that's a lot of time you're wasting, but the recovery time from breaking our concentration makes those distractions even more damaging. One thing that could help reduce the attractiveness of your phone is switching off push notifications on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
You can still keep alerts for text messages, calls and WhatsApp on, but preventing your phone from being constantly flooded with updates will make it less enticing. Science has shown a link between the number and frequency of push notifications and a risk of developing smartphone addiction. It might feel strange to turn notifications off at first, but you might find that when you do browse the apps it feels more intentional as a result.
Do a digital spring clean
Maybe you feel like you've already got good boundaries in place when it comes to social media or push notifications. Still, everyone could benefit from a digital spring clean, and the new year is a perfect time to do one.
From setting up a password manager, to unsubscribing from all of the questionable newsletters and clothing brands that bombard you several times a day and deleting the unnecessary downloads on your computer, it could be worthwhile spending an hour or two sweeping up your online profiles. Is your desktop a graveyard of irrelevant screenshots and memes? This is the time to clean all of that junk up. Aside from freeing up space, this can help you feel more productive and mindful. Something we can all aspire to at the start of the year.
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Source: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/technology-resolutions
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